Fletcher appeared to be trying to head the ball back across the goal, buthis effort looped inside the far post.

Early in the second half Ruud van Nistelrooy should have made the game safebut he blazed his shot over.

His miss meant United had to live on their nerves as Chelsea desperatelysought the equaliser and Edwin van der Sar bravely denied Frank Lampard.

The win saw United climb six places to third, leaving them 10 points behindChelsea, with a game in hand on the league leaders.

On the 19th anniversary of his appointment as United manager the winprovided Sir Alex Ferguson with something to celebrate in what has been amiserable week.

In that time United have been humbled by Middlesbrough, have lost to Lillein the Champions League and Roy Keane has questioned the calibre of some ofthe club's recent signings.

<http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif> Fletcher was one of the players singled out by Keane for criticism but, withthe Irishman watching from the stands, the young Scot produced a stormingperformance.

It was his cross that provided that gilt-edged chance for Van Nistelrooy inthe second half when the Dutchman thrashed his shot over the bar.

Late on Wayne Rooney might have snatched a second goal for United, but hisgoalbound shot was deflected for a corner by Paulo Ferreira.

This was only the second Premiership defeat Chelsea have suffered underMourinho since he took over at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2004.

Following their midweek Champions League defeat to Real Betis it is thefirst time Chelsea have lost twice in a row under their Portuguese manager.

Ten minutes into the second half Mourinho replaced Michael Essien with EidurGudjohnsen to try to provide Didier Drogba more support.

Gudjohnsen's introduction prompted Chelsea to lay siege to the United goalfor the rest of the half.

The Icelandic striker quickly made an impact, passing to Damien Duff who,with the goal at his mercy, miscued his shot.

Van der Sar's courageous block to thwart Lampard - the Dutchman threwhimself at the Chelsea midfielder's feet - was the save of the game.

If the game's closing stages were frenetic, then its opening exchanges wereequally frantic.

Drogba tried to lob Van der Sar but the Chelsea striker was unable to getenough power in his shot.

Asier Del Horno also had a glimpse of the United goal, only to volley wide aJoe Cole free-kick.

In the opening half-hour Ronaldo had a succession of opportunities to crossfrom the left, each time failing to provide a worthwhile delivery.

But he finally got his angles correct to pick out Fletcher at the far post.

Fletcher headed the ball back across goal and his flighted effort took on analtogether more deadly trajectory floating over John Terry and landing inthe back of the net.